


The Recyclers

by genesisgrey



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Cuddling & Snuggling, Hand Jobs, M/M, Outer Space, Science Fiction, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:47:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22952032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genesisgrey/pseuds/genesisgrey
Summary: Recently arrived on Station 62, Chanyeol meets up with the beautiful Baekhyun, leader of a small crew of recyclers.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sci-fi AU written for Nethene a few years ago. Just realized I never posted it. ^_^

Space Station 62.

Jewel of the Andromeda Belt, a shining beacon of human ingenuity for all the Allied Species to see and congregate at as the new Era of Exploration began. Or so the advertisements said as they flashed in bright colors on walls made of plasma screens that lined all the walkways in every inhabitable section, at least, as far as Chanyeol’s experience went.

The reality of Space Station 62 was simpler: a central hub of trade for the quadrant and a trash heap.

Chanyeol hadn’t expected anything more or less when he hitched a ride on a prism transport headed for the station. He was one of about twenty recyclers with the same idea, and the month long trip had been a fun, but it was good to be out on his own again. Or at least not continuously losing his small, ever dwindling, reserve of cash playing cards with a pair of sharks (he read once that shark was a word for a marine creature and not a person good at games, and he wondered what marine meant) named Xiumin and Chen. Those friendly smiles were going to haunt his dreams.

Space Station 62, like Space station 7 through 43 and 69, were run by SME, who liked to tout themselves as the first intergalactic corporation. The claim was debatable and made good fodder for people who liked pointlessly arguing. SME’s original model was new, new, new! To remove whole malfunctioning units instead of repairing pieces.

Wasteful. But in the early Era of Expansion (before the current Era of Exploration) it kind of worked. Spares of everything were kept on hand, repair time kept to a minimum without need to figure out which part was malfunctioning by trial and error. Which was doable for a while, namely as long as the initial stock of spares held out. By then, most stations were built so far away from supply depots it sometimes took a standard year to procure new parts, and only if shipments weren’t harassed by pirates.

This led to the advent of recyclers. People who scoured the mountains of trash - entire floors of the space stations devoted to housing broken things - looking for good pieces, cobbling together whole units and devoting themselves to the ancient art of repair. It was a decadent kind of society that threw away everything and then created an industry to pay to have it brought back in usable pieces.

But it was a living, so Chanyeol didn’t complain.

The transport connected to the docking ring of Space Station 62 with the groan of old metal mating. Chanyeol shouldered his pack of everything he owned in the universe - that he hadn't lost at cards - and bid goodbye to Chen and Xiumin. He headed out before the transport staff started unloading and noticed the cargo hold wasn’t exactly pest free.

One nice thing about going from station to station was they all pretty much had the same layout, with some variance depending on management’s choice of spatial allocation. He found the main thoroughfare, clean bright and shiny to impress richer travelers and merchants, and from there headed to lower decks.

Three decks down, which had to be reached by ladders and stairs because the nice elevators didn’t go so far down, at least not for passengers, Chanyeol found another thoroughfare. It was not so clean or bright, heaps of mechanical garbage lining the walkways instead of gleaming screens. It smelled of age, electrical burn, lubricants, and delicious spices used to make sub-par food not only palatable but delicious.

This was where the merchants who bought from, and sold to, the recyclers lived and peddled. Many of them had started as recyclers and risen up, and some had likely fallen from the graces of the upper echelon to land here.

Chanyeol walked at a leisurely pace as he took in the sights, his stomach gurgling viciously as he passed food stalls. He made a couple good finds along the wall too, some copper wire and a battery pack with remaining charge. He had an eye for being a recycler, an eye for seeking out value amongst the grime.

But the problem with new places wasn’t skill, it was making connections.

He needed to find a place to stay and hopefully a crew to start off with, help him learn the lay of the land, as the ancient phrase went. Sometimes there were territorial concerns and even gangs in the more aggressive recycler communities. Plus, he needed someone to give him an idea of who offered the best prices and who not to sell to.

Often selling to someone no one else would sell to was a bad, bad move. He learned that rule years ago and had to get off Space Station 59 fast.

The merchant stalls and storefronts fell away as the heaps of rubbish no longer stayed close to the walls but poured in ugly slides across the floor. Normally this opening slide, entrance to the fields of junk below, was safe to scour. Chanyeol saw others moving about, some from the transport he’d been on.

For some reason a little person caught his eye.

Not a kid or really even appreciably little. Just, he wasn’t big, and he moved fast, but wasn’t at all skittish. He even seemed confident. Little guys were often skittish. Being a recycler could be a tough life, and while Chanyeol wasn’t aggressive or really strong, he had height and broad shoulders to back him up.

The more Chanyeol stared at the other man, which he knew wasn’t smart, he didn’t look like a normal recycler.

Sure, he had the heavy pack slung over one shoulder, heavy boots with thick soles and dark clothes with lots of pockets, one gloved hand for grabbing anything that needed insulation while the other was bare for any needed dexterity. The bare skin of his face and arms were smudged with black: grease, soot, and bruises. But his brown hair looked soft and feathery, like it had been washed in the last year. And he had fine features, almost delicate.

The mild frown on his lips, lips Chanyeol was staring at, seemed to be his natural mien.

He noticed a glance or two his way as the man drifted closer, until they were near enough to exchange words. “Hey,” his stranger said as he crouched and collected a couple copper pincers to shove in his pocket.

“Um,” Chanyeol said, marveling at his own intelligence. “I’m Chanyeol.”

“Baekhyun,” Baekhyun said, looking up from where he was crouched. “New?”

Baekhyun had dark makeup around his eyes, making them large and mysterious. Chanyeol couldn’t help but question why someone bothered with something so frivolous and probably time consuming (not to mention the expense of getting makeup), while at the same time thinking how nice Baekhyun’s eyes looked. Which was probably why Baekhyun bothered.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol answered, realizing he’d been asked a question. “Just today.”

“You have a place to stay?”

“No.”

Baekhyun seemed to consider him a moment, like, really consider him, looking him over head to toe, and then nodded his head as he made a decision. “Move your foot and let me snatch that power converter,” he said with a commanding wave of his hand. “You can crash with me and my friends.”

Chanyeol jumped back almost a foot, and, sure enough, there was a power converter he didn’t know how he managed to miss. He could feel his ears going red. He was really, really, really embarrassed. That didn’t even qualify as a rookie mistake, just a really, really dumb mistake.

Baekhyun stood and moved to grab the converter, flipping it into the air and then catching it. He flashed a smirk as he put it in his pack. “I saw you find that roll of insulated wiring. Don’t worry. I don’t doubt your skills. C’mon.” He shrugged off his pack, a strangely smooth roll of his shoulder, and held it out. “You play pack mule, I’ll even feed you.”

“You ever wonder what a mule is?” Chanyeol said, because stupid things like that made him curious.

“No.” Then Baekhyun paused and considered. “You think it means something other than a carrier?”

Chanyeol reached for the pack and expected to regret his tacit agreement, recycler packs could get heavy. However, he was pretty hungry. “Maybe? Seems weird to specify pack mule,” he said, thrilled to find it light as he put it over his shoulder. It actually balanced him out. “Like maybe there are other kinds of mules?”

“Maybe,” Baekhyun said as he started to move and motioned for Chanyeol to follow.

Getting down to the main fields of junk, garbage, and salvage, a recycler's wealth, was a pain. The main corridor and route had been closed for years, according to Baekhyun, due to a major mechanical clusterfuck. Instead they had to go down a few ladders, through a couple crawl spaces, and up to reach the lower deck. Baekhyun explained they had to make deals with station staff if they wanted to bring anything really big up.

They finally got to the fields - the junk, the wastes, and the dozen other names for it - an entire deck of the station devoted to rubbish, castoffs, garbage. Debris rained down from waste chutes with larger items pushed out of industrial elevators none too gently, as if to make certain a recycler had their work cut out for them, repairing the initial damage as well as the mishandling.

Chanyeol would say one thing for Space Station 62, it had a larger field than most.

They made a few detours when one or the other of them saw something of value. Baekhyun pointed out a few territory lines. The gangs mostly kept to the Northern Quarter and generally did not hassle regular recyclers, but he said Chanyeol shouldn’t expect to return if he went into their area.

Finally they arrived at an area along the Western wall, which boasted a protruding ledge to protect from falling debris. A long line of shanties had developed there, like a million other recycler communities Chanyeol had seen before, some dwellings more stationary and some ready to fold up and be carried away daily.

Baekhyun led him to the edge of the shanty town, to what looked like nothing but a few well strung green tarps to hide whatever from prying eyes. However, once Chanyeol ducked under the tarps he found part of the wall had been cut away and inside was something almost like a lodge, the kind people paid to say at for a night. There were several cots welded in place and some long shelves that could be used for a bed, along with numerous hammocks.

Three other men were gathered around a heating element in the center of the alcove, watching him. Like most recycler homes, the fields of junk were not heated per se, as they were supposed to just be for unusable waste, not a place where people lived and worked. They relied on excess heat, radiation, from the function of the Station's docking rings. If there wasn’t much going on in the rings, not a lot of commerce, it was cold.

“Sehun. Kai. Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun introduced, pointing at each man in turn. “Chanyeol.”

They all nodded and gave mumbled greetings as Baekhyun continued showing him around. “We have some lockers in here,” he motioned to an area hidden under tarp folds, “which are sacred. If you stick around long enough we’ll get you one. The cots and hammocks are first come first serve, except for the niche in back,” he made a vague motion deeper into the dark scar cut into the wall, “which is mine. Mostly we sell to Suho and Lay in D block, but feel free to branch out.”

“Blacklist?” Chanyeol asked, setting Baekhyun’s pack down while he kept his own on.

“Not really,” Baekhyun said with a roll of his shoulders. He was one of those people whose every motion seemed to have purpose and grace, some kind of hidden meaning.

“Kris,” Sehun muttered, and Kai slapped his shoulder for it. Chanyeol didn’t dare ask.

Baekhyun kicked over a large scrap of metal that hit with a thud and probably had once been part of the wall as he sat down next to the other three. “He can sell to Kris. I don’t sell to Kris,” he said in a tone that told Chanyeol not to sell to Kris, whoever he was, if he felt like sticking around Baekhyun.

They were all looking at him as Baekhyun motioned for Chanyeol to sit. “I said I’d feed him.”

That was all the blessing needed as the mood changed from suspicious to welcoming and he was given a seat next to the glowing blue heat element. Kai passed around packets of food Kyungsoo produced from his pack. Sehun showed Chanyeol how to warm the contents without melting the plastic.

Chanyeol never found a group so quickly.

Sehun looked a little grumpy at first, but once he started talking he was one of the biggest, happiest, loudest, nonstop gossips Chanyeol ever met. He was born and raised a recycler on Space Station 61 before branching out on his own and finding himself on 62 a year ago. He was a scout, someone who (typically didn’t have a talent for repair) kept a close eye on what was being dumped and did legwork to see if it was worth scouring with a group, in addition to keeping an eye on the members of his group in case anyone went missing. From Sehun, Chanyeol learned that Kai and Kyungsoo were a “thing,” which at some point Chanyeol started to blush as he realized that meant lovers.

Kai specialized in mechanical repairs, nuts and bolts, and scavenged accordingly. Not as lucrative as the electronics but a passable living. He also danced at one of the pleasure clubs when he wanted a free shower and to let off some steam, which made Chanyeol blush more.

Meanwhile, Kyungsoo did work for merchants on the lower decks. His eyesight was poor, so he wasn’t great at salvage, but he was very good at intricate repair work on smaller electronics. He was in charge of food, and always had a little in reserve in case Baekhyun brought back a stray.

After the first few days of learning the fields, Chanyeol had a decent load of salvage, and Baekhyun took him to D Block to meet their usual buyers. Suho and Lay shared a storefront, but Suho dealt mostly in repaired pieces and electronics while Lay dealt in parts and recyclable fluids.

Suho was very good natured and Lay was pleasant, even if his accent was thick (and some of his words weren’t in standard) and Chanyeol couldn’t figure out half of what he was saying. But from watching Baekhyun, Chanyeol picked up that if he companionably listened to Lay, Lay gave better prices just because he was in a good mood. And when Lay was in a good mood, Suho was in a good mood. So it was always worth it to go to Suho after Lay.

Sehun later confirmed Chanyeol’s suspicions that Suho and Lay also were a “thing.”

Less than a cycle on Space Station 62 and Chanyeol was already better set up than he was after a year some place. Maybe being a shining beacon of hope wasn’t all advertisement mumbo jumbo.

The only tricky part with having a sort of stable existence and a routine was he had way too much time to ponder the mystery of Baekhyun. Petite, handsome Baekhyun with his frowning lips, soft hair, and the seemingly delicate hands Chanyeol awkwardly found himself fantasizing about.

Occasionally he woke and really, really, really hoped he did not talk in his sleep.

Sehun had no gossip concerning the man, or at least none he shared. The best anyone had was there had been some kind of falling out with Kris, one of the merchants in the nicer part of C Block, but it predated all three of them. No one knew what was inside the niche he disappeared into at the end of a long day. No one knew where he came from. No one even knew if he was plagued by the average recycler dreams of either travel or leaving the junk.

Beyond that, Baekhyun was ostensibly the boss of their little crew, and every now and again he brought home strays, some of whom stayed, some left. And he put effort into his looks, applying eye makeup every day.

That was not a lot to go on.

For reasons Chanyeol liked to think were not obvious (but as Sehun started to refer to them as a “proto-thing” probably was really obvious) he waited for Baekhyun to emerge from his niche before heading out to the fields. They had settled into a nicely comfortable routine.

He loitered in the cot or the hammock he snagged and listened to Baekhyun’s humming while the man was lacing up his heavy black boots and slipping on his glove. Then Baekhyun picked up their packs and waited, leaning against the wall opening as Chanyeol got up, stretched, and made some positive comment about how the day (what a weird linguistic holdover from planetary living) was going to go.

They made a good team.

Baekhyun’s smaller hands could get into crannies Chanyeol’s couldn’t, while Chanyeol’s longer reach was a boon at other moments. Chen, who, with Xuimin (and now Chanyeol had to wonder if they were a “thing”), had found his own home with a different group of recyclers and was still cleaning people out with his card tricks, nicknamed them Shorty and the Giant.

They both had keen eyes and the moved at a similar pace, so neither of them was left waiting unless someone found something and doubled back. Baekhyun didn’t seem to mind his chatter, as Chanyeol had never found himself fond of the quiet. He even responded to Chanyeol’s idle musings, like how time was spoken of as a constant when everyone knew it changed with movement and distance from celestial bodies.

Baekhyun’s answer: “People need to be able to talk about time to pass the time.”

They also dared tread further than Chanyeol normally would have felt comfy, and Baekhyun admitted he typically stayed near his base. Currently,, they were wandering the massive hump in the middle of the fields, dodging intermittent rain of new debris from the chutes of the main thoroughfare.

“I’m not sure about this,” Chanyeol said as they crested and started down. There was something he didn’t like, the angle of the slope and the way the top layer slid. It felt like it might give at any moment, even odds on as a junkslide or a sinkhole.

“No risk, no reward,” was Baekhyun’s patented response to such concerns.

“I really think we should head back,” Chanyeol said as he grabbed Baekhyun’s arm. “Seriously.”

Of course it was that maybe two seconds of being stationary that made everything go wrong.

Baekhyun didn’t get a chance to tell him off or say anything at all as something slid beneath the layer they were standing on and suddenly they were caught in a minor slide. Which usually led to a few bruises and swearing rights, but this time the slide moved too fast to recover from and carried them into a nearly invisible crevasse they had been about to walk in to.

Luckily, the crevasse wasn't too deep and not much of the slide rolled in after to bury them. Unluckily, there was no apparent way out, both side of the crevasse sharp vertical walls with not much in the way of holds.

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun asked in a groan as he righted himself and cracked a light stick to illuminate the situation.

Chanyeol was not okay. He got a claustrophobic when he was under the fields instead of on top. He never got over being buried alive for an entire day when he was twelve.

“Are you?” Chanyeol asked in return, refusing to answer for himself.

He feared his shirt was no longer salvageable, and his pants weren’t much better. He had managed to protect his head and neck with his pack, but his bare arms were scratched pretty nastily.

“Bruises. Bit my tongue,” Baekhyun answered as he got to his feet, spit blood, and wiped at the corner of his mouth. “Looks stable in here.” He started moving around, holding the light stick to get a better look at this or that. “There’s some good stuff down here, we should gather what we can while we’re waiting for Sehun.”

Sehun? Right. Chanyeol was part of a crew with a scout who would realize they were missing if they didn’t return and would look in their last known direction. Except they were under their last known direction and going to die. He shook his head. Thinking like that didn't help.

“I can see where we came down. It’s still open. Sehun will see the glow,” Baekhyun said as he cracked another light stick. “Come on, help me look around. Not often we get to search in deeps.”

Chanyeol somehow managed to start moving and found four power converters and a charger that hadn’t been totally fried, and for a little while he managed to fixate on the wealth of discovery. But eventually they had gathered up most the worthwhile finds in the crevasse and cracked on four more light sticks, and Sehun still hadn’t come, and Chanyeol was back to thinking of how suffocating and scary it was.

He was standing to his back against what could be called a wall, looking up at the sliver in the junk and the ceiling of the deck beyond. It wasn’t hot, but sweat was pouring down his face and everywhere. He didn’t even notice the way Baekhyun watched him with a keen, knowing look.

“Do you find me attractive, sexually?” came out of nowhere, and fully stole Chanyeol’s attention as he jerked his head down so he could look at Baekhyun who had wandered over to stand in front of him.

“That’s kind of a weird question to ask?” Chanyeol said as he felt his ears warming.

“I figured it was better to just ask. You seem like you might miss it if I made a pass that was subtle,” Baekhyun said as he cracked another light stick and tossed it on the ground. Highly wasteful for such a precious supply, but some part of Chanyeol felt better as he imagined there was a better chance of Sehun seeing the glow.

Then he realized what Baekhyun said. “Hey!”

The corner of Baekhyun’s mouth hitched upward in a smirk. “Don’t get mad, I like people I can be straightforward with.”

Chanyeol huffed, his cheeks felt red as he attempted to turn the tables: “Do you find me attractive? Sexually?”

The sexy smile that slid across Baekhyun’s glistening lips and the glint in his eyes was like he’d been waiting his entire life for Chanyeol to ask. “Well, I like tall guys with long arms and legs to wrap around me, endearingly dopey smiles,” he said, stepping forward so they were nearly touching. He put a hand on Chanyeol’s chest, pulling at the shreds of shirt. “So, yeah, I’d say I find you sexually attractive.”

Not the answer Chanyeol expected. “Y-Yeah? Well I like short, uh, compact. Is petite bad to say?”

“Shut up and lean down,” Baekhyun said, and Chanyeol obeyed as an arm both slender and strong wrapped around his neck and he got a taste of those delicious frowning lips.

Chanyeol had the better angle but it was Baekhyun in control and ravishing his mouth. There was nothing shy about the way he explored Chanyeol and coaxed Chanyeol to respond in kind. The way he sucked Chanyeol’s full lower lip into his mouth and dragged his teeth against it.

There was nothing else in the universe beyond that kiss. Chanyeol’s focus narrowed to Baekhyun and what Baekhyun was doing, nothing else existed since the big bang so far as his mind was concerned. Just, bang, and then him and Baekhyun lip locked, that was it. And then he felt Baekhyun expanding the horizons of existence as the hand attached to the arm not around his neck, the naked hand with five fantastic fingers that liked to dance in Chanyeol’s dreams, pushed into the front of Chanyeol’s pants.

Chanyeol hiccupped with surprise into the kiss, and he thought he felt Baekhyun laugh, but their lips never parted for him to be sure. His own hands were pawing at Baekhyun’s shoulders and bicep before he was just hugging and trying to keep up with kissing as Baekhyun’s talented fingers brought his semi-aroused member to life.

His dreams had been spot on about how good Baekhyun’s hand would feel.

Everything was kissing, lips, teeth, tongues, and Baekhyun’s soft yet calloused fingers stroking him at an increasing pace until it all exploded.

For a moment everything went white and he saw stars, and then the universe hazed back in to place. He felt the sweat drenching his skin as Baekhyun’s mouth drank in his moans. His eyes drifted open, even though he was sure he never shut them, and he saw the pretty makeup up close and thought Baekhyun’s brown eyes were pretty even without it.

“Sorry,” he whispered as the kiss tapered and he saw Baekhyun’s hand smeared with his come.

“I was jerking you off. What do you think I thought was going to happen?” Baekhyun said with a low chuckle as he wiped it on his inner shirt.

There was something oddly intimate about how he did it, or maybe Chanyeol’s mind was still fuzzed by his orgasm. Definitely fuzzed. He would have sworn he was calling Baekhyun's name, except it sounded wrong and his lips weren't moving. And he was also calling his own name?

It was Baekhyun stepping back and yelling that snapped Chanyeol back into reality as he recognized Sehun and Kyungsoo yelling down, demanding to know if they were alive. He remembered to pull up his pants as he joined Baekhyun in calling up to them. Though, his was a plea to get them out, while Baekhyun was working out how to get their accumulated bounty up top.

Both needs were achieved.

Kai brought some heavy cabling to get both them and the stuff up. Then, after emergency shots to protect against tetanus and the list of other possible maladies typical of a recycler's life and some basic first aid, all five of them hauled everything up to Suho and Lay's. Baekhyun haggled like a fiend to get good prices for every last piece, and enough of it was rare that he got top dollar for every bit of it. After, Baekhyun treated them to dinner at a food stall. A real dinner they didn't have to eat out of a plastic pack, with drinks.

Then it went back to life as normal.

Baekhyun didn't act any different over the next few days. Certainly didn't act like he kissed Chanyeol into eternity and delivered him ecstasy with one hand. Chanyeol started to wonder if his fear addled mind had conjured the whole affair. It was one explanation for how Baekhyun’s hand felt exactly as good as he imagined it would, and one for why Baekhyun would want him as well.

Chanyeol looked at how the scratches on his arms were healing as he dozed in a hammock, kicking at the wall to make it sway.

Everyone was gone to indulge their particular vices. Sehun was off attempting to start a "thing" with a merchant named Luhan. Kai was blowing off steam dancing at the club. Kyungsoo had gone to watch, which Kai didn't know or he would have argued against spending the money on entrance as he would give Kyungsoo a private show. But, poor eyesight be damned, one of Kyungsoo's pleasures was ogling Kai on the stage. Baekhyun had gone into his secret niche in the back.

Meaning Chanyeol was alone and wondering if he needed a hobby.

He heard Baekhyun come out into, but it didn’t sink in Baekhyun was there until the man was leaning over him in the hammock with one of his more serious frowns. His hair was ruffled and his eyes were red and tired, like he hadn’t slept right or bothered to put on his makeup.

“Do you cuddle?” he said, his tone somewhere between a question and a demand.

“Yes?” Chanyeol squeaked. He wasn’t actually sure if he did - cuddling might mean something else on Station 62 - but yes seemed like a good answer.

“Come on,” Baekhyun said, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the hammock toward the secret entrance.

“I’m not supposed to go in there,” Chanyeol said in wonderment, because he was clearly an idiot!

He heard Baekhyun laugh as they squeezed through. “I’m giving you special dispensation,” said the smaller man as they plunged into darkness. "Watch your step. It’s a bit confusing if you’re not used to getting around.”

The space was narrow and Chanyeol had to duck even before the crawl-through. Then it widened to be large enough for them to walk next to one another, except it was pitch black, like space without stars. If Baekhyun let go of his hand Chanyeol would have been forever lost. But he held on until they got to a sliver of light, which blinded Chanyeol as Baekhyun pushed it open and led them inside.

His vision adjusted to the illumination and he found himself in a space that wasn't so much of a room but a treasure trove, like some kind of colorful dream. Chanyeol rubbed his eyes to be sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Shelves had been constructed on one wall holding knick-knacks, strings of shiny silver and copper metal, some empty flasks and alcohol bottles. Another wall was a mosaic of broken glass and metal shards. On the floor was a rug of red and gold with a purple futon on it, piles of blankets and pillows.

“Did you make this?” Chanyeol asked as his head bumped into a chime made of colored fragments.

“I was bored,” Baekhyun said a shrug, which Chanyeol interpreted as, 'Yes, you may find me more awesome now.'

“This is…”

“I’ve been here for longer than most,” Baekhyun said as he dropped down on the futon. “Stuff accumulates.”

Chanyeol nodded without comprehension. He'd never had stuff to accumulate or a place to accumulate it. He continued to look around and realized there was a soft scent. Not food spices, but sweet and soothing. There was a pile of clothes next to a mirror with a tarnished frame propped against the wall, a low table filled by stuff, little items that looked new instead of scavenged, probably makeup.

He didn’t know why he felt heat rising as he imagined Baekhyun sitting in front of that mirror preparing for the day.

“Come here,” Baekhyun said as he waved Chanyeol closer and patted the futon. “Lay down with me.”

Chanyeol's mouth went drew as he obeyed, sitting on the futon next to Baekhyun. It was a bit lumpy, but a lot more comfortable than the shelves and cots. He didn't resist when Baekhyun shoved him down and dragged the blankets over them.

“You radiate warmth. That’s a plus,” Baekhyun said as he writhed closer. “Put your arms around me. Gets cold in here.”

Chanyeol didn’t think his body temperature was going to drop below supernova ever again as he did as he was told and held the smaller body against his. Baekhyun fit nicely in his arms, pressed to his chest, their legs intertwined, as Chanyeol dared to nuzzle his nose against the feather soft hair, which was as soft at it looked. The sweet scent was there. Like fruit, but airier, the way he once heard flowers described. He inhaled as he felt Baekhyun go still, drowsing against him.

It was soothing and sedate, but Chanyeol knew he wasn’t going to sleep, he wasn’t going to sleep, he wasn’t going to slee…

He woke and his arms were empty; Baekhyun wasn’t there. Baekhyun was next to him, leaning on an elbow and stroking his hair, staring down at him. “Should I get out?” Chanyeol asked, because he didn’t want to go.

The corner of Baekhyun’s mouth hitched upward as he ran his thumb over Chanyeol’s eyebrow. “Nah.”

“Is it time to get a start on the day?”

Baekhyun seemed to consider, and Chanyeol decided his inane chatter had worn off when Baekhyun opened his mouth. “I heard people used to get days off where they didn’t have to work,” Baekhyun said as he ran a finger over the shell of Chanyeol’s ear to his earlobe and along his jaw. "Sounds nice."

“Weekends." Chanyeol swallowed hard. "I heard of them too.”

“Shouldn’t make a habit of it, but after that last score, we should be okay lazing one day, if we want,” he said, withdrawing his touch to run a hand through his own hair. “Probably should talk a about what happened then, huh? Like taking advantage of your being freaked out.” He let out a derisive snort. “Or do you really like ‘em petite?”

So it hadn’t been a dream. “I didn’t feel taken advantage. It… helped.”

That wasn’t the right response. It wasn’t quite the wrong response. But it wasn’t the right response by the way Baekhyun pressed his lips in a firm line as he cocked his head to the side, pulling on his earlobe.

Baekhyun let out a long sigh. “Chanyeol, I’d really like to do you,” he said with a glance to the side that said this was his version of a shy confession. “Like, from the day I first saw you on the upper deck all gangly and sexy and clueless. But, I didn’t want to scare you off. And now I kind of like you as a person, so I don’t want it to get awkward, you know? If it’s one sided just tell me, I won’t get weird. I’m not going to pressure you about it. I prefer having you around more than getting in one good fuck and never seeing you again." He licked his lips. "But if it’s somewhat mutual, I’d like for us to hook up and you could, maybe, sleep back here, if you want.”

Chanyeol stared up at him. “Do me? You want to have sex with me?”

The blankets shifted around them. “Yeah, well, you know, more like the whole shebang, screw around, go around like we have been, cuddle a little,” Baekhyun said, then shook his head and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “I don’t know what it is with me and cuddling,” was under his breath before he looked back at Chanyeol. “It’s not a deal breaker if you find it a turn off. Some people do.”

"Cuddling, like, snuggling? Like how we spent last night?" Chanyeol said. Who found that a turn off?

"Yeah."

"That's cool," Chanyeol said, rolling onto his side. "Um, what did you mean by do me, exactly?"

Baekhyun ran a hand over his neck and seemed to debate. This was his shy, Chanyeol realized as the revelation hit him the second time. “I’d like to have you all to myself for like an entire day and screw you until you can’t feel your legs, and then I’d like to spend too much cash pampering you. At some point I’d like to blow you, because the feel of having you in my hand wasn’t enough. And then I’d like to just be naked and writhe with you, you know, cuddle.”

"Oh."

"So... any interest?"

“Could you ask again?” Chanyeol said, feeling dizzy. “Like in a way I can respond to instead of just being breathless?”

Baekhyun blinked and then a smile stretched his thin, gorgeous lips instead of a frown. It made him look beautiful and a little silly, and warmed Chanyeol’s heart. “How about, hey, you want to start a “thing” with me?”

“I thought it was be a “thing,” right?” Chanyeol replied, and then his mouth started running off. “Makes you wonder what Sehun’s imagining. Some kind of animal?”

“A beast with two backs.”

“What’s that… oh.” Chanyeol’s face went red. “Oh!”

Baekhyun grinned as he crawled over and Chanyeol pressed himself down on the soft, squishy futon Chanyeol was greatly looking forward to becoming even more intimately acquainted with. "Is that a yes?" Baekhyun asked, even as the twinkle in his brown eyes knew the answer. "Should I show you?"

As words failed him, Chanyeol nodded.

“Don’t worry,” Baekhyun promised, kissing his nose. “I’m actually pretty nice.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mention of non-character suicide.

More than a standard year and Chanyeol still wasn't accustomed to waking up amongst the heaps of stuff, pretty decorations dangling from above, on a plush futon, his body feeling sore in the best ways, and a petite form pressed against his. His previous relationship status was sporadic, at best, and nearly nonexistent if he was feeling dour about it. And he'd always been the one on top (to use old Terran phrasing), gravity defiant instead of gravity obedient, in those clumsy sessions.

But Chanyeol liked it.

Baekhyun knew what he was doing when it came to the physical stuff and made it feel good. Chanyeol didn't know how he could kiss and maintain the rhythm of steady, hard thrusts that made Chanyeol crazy, all while stroking Chanyeol to completion. It felt like the most fantastic magic trick in the universe, and Chanyeol really liked being his lovely assistant.

And Baekhyun always seemed to have new tricks.

Not too long ago, Chanyeol received his first ever blowjob. It was one of those things people did, but he always avoided because it seemed kind of gross to put his mouth in such a place, especially given the not-so-great hygiene of most recyclers. Though, Chanyeol's was better since meeting, and living with, Baekhyun. Baekhyun had a stockpile of dry cleaning products to help combat odor and disease, and keep his hair always looking pettably soft. Not to mention, he had since started the exorbitant practice of treating Chanyeol to a weekly shower at one of the lodges on the mid-deck.

Warm water, soap, and never enough time on the meter. The place they frequented offered a stall discount for people showering together - which Chanyeol had taken advantage of a couple times with Sehun and Kyungsoo - but when showering with Baekhyun, Chanyeol felt as if he should be paying extra.

It was during one of those showers Chanyeol finally agreed to the blowjob. Baekhyun hinted at obviously enough Chanyeol figured it out long before Baekhyun finally asked flat out, and Chanyeol felt his ears go red when he didn't say no, but changed the subject. But Baekhyun wanted to give him a blowjob a lot, whispered about it in his ear, and Chanyeol let Baekhyun do pretty much anything. He'd nervously started to sputter about how he didn't know why it was called a blowjob since licking and sucking seemed to be the primary activities, and a lot of other stuff that didn’t make sense, as being in the warmth of Baekhyun's mouth fried his synapse.

He wasn't sure if he'd ever feel comfortable giving one, but after that experience he no longer changed the subject when Baekhyun offered.

It wasn't only great, good, fantastic sex between them, Chanyeol maintained. Sex was just the part he felt comfortable letting other people in on, like when Sehun asked how it was to be a "thing" with Baekhyun. Chanyeol smiled at the young scout and maybe spoke a little too glowingly about how good Baekhyun's fingers felt inside him, and how much better Baekhyun's cock felt. And now he could make lewd jokes about blowjobs with authority.

Sex wasn't something most recyclers were shy about - Chanyeol was a little, but he was in the minority - and Sehun always wanted to hear more. However, relationships beyond functional working ones made lots of people uncomfortable. That was why there was a wide berth around Kai as of late, he had started referring to Kyungsoo as his lover in public. It suited them, and Kyungsoo didn't mind, but it made some of the other recyclers give them odd looks.

Honestly, Chanyeol thought lovers kind of fit his and Baekhyun's "thing," but he was scared to ask if Baekhyun felt the same. Though, Baekhyun didn't have any issue with Kai and Kyungsoo's new status, and he rarely let what other people thought bother him.

They were currently at a club on the middle deck, recyclers and low level merchants, the one where Kai danced. (Having caught a few glimpses of the performance, Chanyeol blushingly understood why Kyungsoo came to watch.) But the section with the nude dancing was only one part of the club. He and Baekhyun were at a section full of loud, pounding industrial sounds and a floor made for people to writhe against one another form of dancing.

Chanyeol leaned down and shouted in Baekhyun’s ear: "Why do you like it here?" Baekhyun looked up smirked and took his hand, dragging him out onto the floor for some fun.

Exclusivity was rare, and possibly part of the stigma against having a lover. Many people attempted to join in with them while dancing or separate them. Chanyeol hadn't minded early on, but now it bothered him when someone slid between them and put their hands all over Baekhyun. Baekhyun just laughed when he chased someone off by snubbing them ore moving away. Baekhyun was willing to return as much of the flirtation as he received, but the moment Chanyeol so much as acknowledged someone speaking to him, Baekhyun's glare had them scurrying away. (Baekhyun got in a fight over him once, and everyone was impressed. He might have been smaller, fairer, and more petite than most, but a few quick moves and he had the other man on the floor. And even through Chanyeol was nonviolent by nature, he had been very excited for Baekhyun to take him back home.)

"Drinks?" Baekhyun called as they drifted to one of the upper walkways away from the dance floor, where the bars were located.

"I'll get them," Chanyeol shouted over the music. Baekhyun was true to his word about pampering, but sometimes Chanyeol wanted to share in the duty, more than being a good working partner out on the fields and a willing partner in bed.

"Soju," Baekhyun said.

Chanyeol didn't think he would ever understand the choice of an old terran beverage when Antivi Ale was available, but he would get Baekhyun what Baekhyun wanted.

Sehun was leaning against the bar being felt up by slender, pale Luhan, who was an oddities merchant - he would have lost his mind if he saw the treasures in Baekhyun's room. "Where's the boss," Sehun asked, moaning as Luhan nibbled on his neck. He had started calling Baekhyun the boss as of late.

"Waiting for his drink," Chanyeol said, nodding over his shoulder to where Baekhyun was, tapping his foot in time with the pounding beat as he leaned on a high table.

It was probably the way the man was moving toward Baekhyun with such purpose that drew Chanyeol's attention. He was handsome in that chiseled sort of way, really nice, sharp features, blond hair. It was only when he approached Baekhyun and Baekhyun had a definite reaction (not a receptive one, but acutely aware of the other man by the way he drew to his full height) that Chanyeol also noted the man was tall and long limbed, a little awkward. Just Baekhyun's type.

"That's Kris," Sehun hissed, pushing Luhan away.

Luhan released his hold on Sehun's neck, leaving a red mark that would be another part of Sehun's hickey collection by morning. He nodded to acknowledge Chanyeol's existence before looking over his shoulder and confirming: "Yeah, it is Kris. I wonder what he's doing. He never comes here."

Kris stood in front of Baekhyun and started talking. Baekhyun responded but turned his head so their eyes never met. Both of them were frowning, scowling, and the hand gestures were becoming faster, more expressive and angry. Kris seemed to reach his limit on Baekhyun not looking at him and made a grab for Baekhyun's face. That put Chanyeol right on edge as Sehun gasped. Baekhyun both dodged it and slapped Kris' hand away, but Kris got what he wanted because Baekhyun looked him, square in the eyes, and said something before he walked away.

Baekhyun clenched his jaw, glaring after Kris before turning away and catching sight of Chanyeol staring. He looked utterly pissed as he made a beeline for the bar, and Chanyeol's panicked response was to wonder what a bee was and what made it's line so special. Sehun and Luhan, and a few other people around them, chose to run off before Baekhyun got there.

"I'm sorry," Chanyeol said, dumbly standing there with their drinks in his hands.

"I'm not angry at you," Baekhyun said as he took the soju and downed it in one long gulp, tossing the flimsy plastic cup in one of the bins that would sanitize and melt it down to make new cups. "Come on, moods bad in here. I'm not feeling it anymore."

Chanyeol downed his own drink as he followed Baekhyun out of the club and back down to the fields, to the niche in the wall and the secret hideaway. Baekhyun didn't say much, which wasn't totally out of the ordinary. But neither did Chanyeol, and that was downright odd.

Baekhyun stripped out of his clothes and crawled beneath the blankets on the futon almost immediately, and normally Chanyeol joined him, but he felt awkward, and he didn't know what to do. Finally it came out, "You and Kris were a "thing," weren’t you?"

"Long time ago," Baekhyun said as he folded a blanket into a pillow, glaring up at Chanyeol. "Why are you just standing over there?"

Chanyeol didn’t move. "Did he do something bad to you? Is that why you don’t sell to him?"

Baekhyun stared at him and sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Kris isn't a bad guy. We just didn't work and I hold grudges, which is why I don't sell to him. But I don't have any interest in giving him trouble with other recyclers, okay? He started down here and he worked hard to forge a place in second-tier merchant class. I respect that."

Most recyclers hoped to someday become merchants. Chanyeol even had a vague idea of how he wanted his future to go. "Do you not want to work up to merchant?"

The expression on Baekhyun’s face was tired as he sat up and answered. "I don't have a problem with working into being a merchant. I'll probably get to it when my body starts getting too sore for running around and climbing like a recycler needs, but it ticked me off how Kris did it without so much as a thought of me." To Chanyeol that sounded a lot more intense and just not working together. "I mean, I guess he did. He asked me to go with once it was all set up, but, he didn't, I don't know,” he made a motion with his hand, “ask if I wanted to do it, let me be part of it. I was an afterthought. So I told him good luck and not to look me up again."

"Why'd he want to talk to you tonight?" Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun pursed his lips and patted the space next to him. "Are you going to come over here?"

Chanyeol’s ears felt warm as he shook his head. "I'm worried we'll start making out and stop talking." Not that he ever stopped talking, but it really wasn’t a conversation of any import when they were having sex.

"That was my plan,” Baekhyun admitted, “but I promise I won't. Come here."

Chanyeol obeyed as he came over to the futon, remaining dressed, and sat down where Baekhyun wanted. Baekhyun pulled him into a hug, but didn't make any other movement or overtures. He held Chanyeol's head against his chest, ran those nimble fingers through Chanyeol's hair, and Chanyeol heard the heartbeat pounding a little faster than usual.

"What do you really want to talk about? I’m sure it’s not Kris."

"It sort of is?” Chanyeol leaned into him. He liked the way Baekhyun was holding on. “You never tell me anything about you.”

"Why do you need to know? Why does anything but now matter?”

Chanyeol nuzzled his bare chest. "Because I want to know about you,” he said as he thought of all those days on the fields babbling about his typical recycler childhood and his first times and that time he thought he was going to die but didn’t. “You know all about me.”

Baekhyun sighed, holding him tighter, petting his hair in the quiet before he spoke. "Fine.” He didn’t sound happy, but for once Chanyeol didn’t vacillate to make him happy. “I wasn't born down here. My father was a merchant of the upper tiers.”

"Really?" Chanyeol said, raising his head looking at Baekhyun like he was some sort of mythical beast.

The frowning lips pulled into a crease. "That look is why I hate talking about it. I live here now. You’ve only known me as a recycler. Why does it matter?"

"I'm sorry,” Chanyeol said, shrinking.

Baekhyun pulled him down to lay on the futon. "Don't be sorry. It... I don't even know. I don’t like being treated different because of something that in no way benefits me. I worked hard to make my place here. It’s like hearing about my father makes what I've done less of an accomplishment.”

“You’re really good,” Chanyeol said, muffled slightly against Baekhyun’s chest. “I just never met anyone that’s lived up there.”

He wrapped himself around Chanyeol, his legs around Chanyeol’s waist as he continued to hold Chanyeol’s face to his chest. Chanyeol’s arms moved around his waist. “It’s not as great as it seems, just shinier and cleaner, "Baekhyun said. "Okay, cleaner is better."

Baekhyun sighed and went on: "Near as I can tell, my father wasn't good at being a merchant. He just inherited it from his father and made it work. When I was fourteen, I knew something went wrong, but I didn't understand how wrong until my father killed himself to escape his creditors. That's when I ran away. Even at fourteen I knew the mercenary things my father’s business partners would do to get their money out of me as his only relative.”

“That must have been scary,” Chanyeol said, stroking his back. He couldn't even imagine what Baekhyun was alluding to, and he didn't think he wanted to.

Baekhyun kissed the top of his head. "Not really. I wasn't scared of anything after finding my father dead. I was numb, mostly." He sighed. "The only thing I knew for sure is anger, because he didn't take me with him. Not that I wanted to die, but I was angry he didn't think enough of me to take me along. He was selfish and left me alone."

"I'm glad he was selfish." Chanyeol hugged him tight. He couldn’t imagine life without Baekhyun anymore, all his (haphazard) plans (and fantasies) involved Baekhyun now. He pointed out: "That's why you're mad at Kris, too. For not trying to take you with.” He was also glad Kris had been selfish.

He could feel the startlment (because why shouldn’t that be a word) in Baekhyun. "Yeah, I guess it is."

They didn't talk anymore for a while. Baekhyun held and cuddled him and somehow Chanyeol wound up naked, but they didn't have sex. It was lots of slow kissing and sensual touching, a lot of being in one another’s arms. Chanyeol wanted to cry, but in a good way. 

"Are we lovers?" Chanyeol asked, feeling a swell of bravery as he held Baekhyun sprawled over his chest.

"Yeah,” Baekhyun answered without hesitation. “If you're okay with that.”

“I’m going to find the highest place on the fields and shout it,” Chanyeol said as he kissed Baekhyun’s neck. Baekhyun snorted. "Can I tell you something?”

"Sure."

Chanyeol felt light as helium. "I have this idea of becoming a merchant someday," he said, and felt the tension in his lover, but kept on going because he would not make Kris' mistake. "That if Suho and Lay ever really move on to their dream of a planet-side life with solar days maybe you and me could take over their interest, buy it out. Then I could be like Suho and give better prices if someone makes you happy."

Baekhyun actually laughed as the tension released. "No one would ever get a break then," he said. "Mm. Okay. I like that idea."

Chanyeol grinned. "I like planning for you in my life, lover."

\--

Comments appreciated!


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